Showing results by author "Michela Bertazzo" in All Categories

The second volume of Amelia. - Summary by Libby Gohn

In Volume 9 Clarissa hastens to her fate and the various culprits reap the consequences of their crimes of indifference, cruelty and neglect. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera.- Summary by Nicole Lee

Volume 4 continues the story in epistolary form of the despoliation of Clarissa, as all the forces of society and the personal nefariousness of the devilish rake Lovelace conspire to overcome her virtue. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera. - Summary by Nicole Lee

Volume 5 continues the story in epistolary form of the despoliation of Clarissa, as all the forces of society and the personal nefariousness of the devilish rake Lovelace conspire to overcome her virtue. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera. - Summary by Nicole Lee

In Volume 8 Clarissa continues to decline towards her pitiful end, while Lovelace remains defiant, even as his nemesis Colonel Morden finally arrives his town. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera. - Summary by Nicole Lee

In Volume 7, the degradation and humiliation of Clarissa continue, from all the forces of society and the personal nefariousness of the devilish rake Lovelace, while her moral greatness and superiority to Lovelace shine out with an undiminished splendour. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera.- Summary by Nicole Lee

Clarissa Harlowe, is the tragic heroine of this story, she is a beautiful and virtuous young lady whose family has become wealthy only recently and now desires to become part of the aristocracy. Originally they planned to concentrate the wealth and lands of the Harlowe's into the possession of James Harlowe, Clarissa's brother whose wealth and political power will lead to his being given a title. Clarissa's grandfather has left her a substantial piece of property upon his death, and a new route to the nobility opens through Clarissa marrying Robert Lovelace, heir to an earldom. James's ...

The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton is a "bipartite adventure story whose first half covers a traversal of Africa, and whose second half taps into the contemporary fascination with piracy. It has been commended for its depiction of the homosexual relationship between the eponymous hero and his religious mentor, the Quaker, William Walters." (Summary by Wikipedia)

16 satires in verse of the celebrated classical poet of the 1st and 2nd Century translated into verse by John Dryden an English satirist of the 17th Century in which Juvenal complains about and ridicules aspects of life in the Rome of his day her habits mores and celebrities - Summary by N L Hillier

John Dryden published Absalom and Achitophel: A Poem in 1681. It is an elaborate historical allegory using the political situation faced by King David (2 Samuel 14-18) to mirror that faced by Charles II. Each monarch had a son whom a high-ranking minister attempted to use against him. James Scott, first Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son, was detected planning a rebellion late in 1681, supposedly instigated by the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was tried for high treason, and it is believed that Dryden wrote the poem in an effort to sway the jury in his trial. The fates of both Absalom ...

A Restoration farce by a successful woman playwright. "Doctor Baliardo, a Neapolitan philosopher, has so applied himself to the study of the Moon, and is enraptured to such an extent with the mysteries of that orb, that he has come steadfastly to believe in a lunar world, peopled, ruled and regulated like the earth. This wholly fills and absorbs his every waking thought, and, in consequence, he denies his daughter Elaria and his niece Bellemante to their respective lovers, the Viceroy’s two nephews, Don Cinthio and Don Charmante, as being men of mere terrestial mould." - Summary by Montague ...

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and “a fountain of life”—the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source from whence it emanates. Upon a principle so vastly important, all the subtle malignity of Satan has been directed, if possible to mislead the very elect; while the ungodly and impenitent fall under his devices. To the mind enlightened by Divine truth, the difference between a filial fear of offending God and the dread of punishment is very plain. Still, by the devil’s sophistry, some of the most pious Christians have been puzzled and ...

Written in the late 1600s by John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress, this treatise exhorts Christians to holy living. Bunyan takes as his text Psalm 93:5, 'Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever,' and from it he presents true holiness as true beauty, calling his fellow believers out of the religious hypocrisy of his era to a genuine pursuit of God. Spiritually, this work is a little-known gem from a respected religious figure, and historically it is a unique look at the Christian church and family in the seventeenth century. Whatever your reason for coming to 'A Holy Life,' it ...

Comme Virgile a développé l’épopée à célébrer l’origine de sa propre patrie, Milton l’a adaptée encore plus pour raconter l’origine du mal et le remède à la chute de l’homme; c’est ce sujet qu’il appelle “des choses qui n’ont encore été tentées ni en prose ni en vers.” L’auteur continue à combiner l’innovation et la tradition quand il débute le premier livre “in medias res” avec la visite au monde infernal (cf. Odyssée livre 11, l’Enéide livre 6), car la malice de Satan est le principe déterminant de l’action négative. Mais au centre du poème...

A breviate of the life of Margaret, the daughter of Francis Charlton, of apply in Shropshire, esq. and wife of Richard Baxter. For the use of all, but especially of their kindred. There is also published the character of her mother, truly described in her published funeral sermon, reprinted at her daughter’s request, called, the last work of a believer, his passing-prayer, recommending his departing spirit to Christ, to be received by him."Being thus obliged by her request, mine own affections urged me to premise this Breviate of her own life: Written, I confess, under the power of melting ...

A description of the man that gets to heaven: with directions how to run so as to obtain - Summary by John Bunyan

Seventeenth-century Puritan theologian John Bunyan wrote The Life and Death of Mr. Badman as a companion piece to The Pilgrim’s Progress, the literary work for which Bunyan is best remembered. Although both works are Christian allegories that provide the reader with moral and spiritual instruction, The Pilgrim’s Progress accomplishes this goal primarily via the positive example of the protagonist, while The Life and Death of Mr. Badman does the opposite; Pilgrim is ultimately destined for heaven, while Mr. Badman is destined for hell. The two works also differ in their format. Pilgrim’s ...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Adam and Eve (From “Paradise Lost,” Fourth Book) by John Milton. This was the Weekly Poetry project for Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 (though written nearly ten years earlier) in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, redivided into twelve books (in the manner of the division of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification; most of the poem was ...

From John Bunyan's classic, The Pilgrim's Progress, we find the poem To Be a Pilgrim, an inspiring reminder of who we are in Christ. This was the weekly poem for March 8-15, 2015. - Summary by Esther ben Simonides

“The Sun to me is darkAnd silent as the Moon,When she deserts the nightHid in her vacant interlunar cave.”Milton composes his last extended work as a tragedy according to the classical Unities of Time, Place and Action. Nevertheless it “never was intended for the stage” and is here declaimed by a single reader.Samson the blinded captive, in company with the Chorus of friends and countrymen, receives his visitors on their varying missions and through them his violent story is vividly recalled. Then he is summoned to give a final demonstration of God-given strength to entertain the ...